X
FINISHED SINCE THE LAST UPDATE:
Siobhan Adcock’s novel about a post-natural disaster society in which there is no more water and sharply declining birth rates is a slow burner. I was not certain I wanted to continue with it at first for several reasons. The main character is a mess, and PTSD does not sufficiently explain his symptoms. The Wars too are nebulous in the beginning. We do not know what CG did there nor why we have been in a war for decades. Add to that the confusion about this new society built on top of the old one. However, when you stick with it, you not only receive answers to these questions, you get a real sense of the society and the issues facing each of the Quinn siblings. The society is a chilling one and should not be as realistic as it is, but it is all too easy to envision not only the well-meaning regulations that eventually do more to hamper than to help. Most people are not going to have the patience for this story, which is a shame because I do think it has relevance for today.
DID NOT FINISH:
After a full week of this one sitting on my nightstand and me finding excuses to do something else other than read it, I know this is not a book I want to finish. At just shy of the halfway mark, I find myself not really involved in the story on any level. I care nothing for the characters; the story is just mediocre. The pacing is glacial; too much time is spent describing this new world of shadowless and shadowed and not enough time actually doing something or getting somewhere. Plus, Ory’s story is so repetitive. It is one thing to know how much he loves his wife; it is another thing entirely to be told that over and over again at each little change in his search for her. I do think this is one novel best read in one or two sittings because it is fairly easy to become superficially immersed in the story while reading. It is once you set it down that all desire and curiosity disappears, or so I find. If I were to keep reading, it would be to find out whether they ever discover a cause and potential cure for the missing shadows and subsequent memory loss, and I can flip to the last few chapters to make that determination if the desire to do so gets to me. Otherwise, I am perfectly happy putting this permanently to the side and moving on to the next book.
CURRENT READ:
CURRENT LISTEN:
NEXT UP:
June Review Copies:
So, what are you reading?
I am reading the second book in Martha Wells’s The Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy! My friend urged me to read them and I was only so-so on the first one, and I was only so-so for most of the second one and then at the very end, I became very into it indeed.
I’m sad that you didn’t like The Book of M! But I will try to be prepared when I read it, for it to be slow, and maybe that will help. I like the premise so much!
Don’t you love when you stick with a book and it becomes excellent? I think that is why I have such problems DNFing books – because you just never know when a so-so book is going to become an excellent one.
I hope you have much better success with The Book of M than I did! I just did not have the patience to weed through the details, which is unusual for me. I normally love slow and lengthy books.
Ya, if a book sits too long without being touched, I just quit too. I’m currently reading Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray.
That is definitely a good sign. I hope you are enjoying your current read!
Curious to hear your thoughts on Providence. I’ve seen the reviews all over the place.
I know why they are all over the place. Not a fan.
Ha – definitely signs you need to DNF that puppy!
The fact that I still feel no desire to find out how it ended means I made the right decision!
Good for you for deciding to move on with a book that isn’t quite working for you. I think most of us need to do that now and then or maybe more often than now and then. Hope this week’s books are more enjoyable and I also hope your weekend away reading was a fabulous!
While it takes me a lot to DNF a book, I DO make that decision every once in a while. If I can set aside a book and have no desire to see how it ends, that is one of my signs.